Cabaret Spotlight: Kate Herzlin

Kate is a senior in the College and the brilliant director of FTC’s upcoming production of “Cabaret”!

FTC: What was the first show you ever directed?KH: In high school, my first directing experience was with a Moliere play for my theatre class, but at Penn, my first directing experience was with Wild Party, Q Fling 2012.

FTC: What’s your favorite part about directing?KH: This is hard! I think my favorite part is also my least favorite – letting go at the end, when the show basically belongs to the stage manager and the actors. It’s bittersweet because it means that I can’t adjust anything else, but I know I’ve put in enough time, energy and hard work with all of these brilliant and talented people, that the show is ready to live on its own, and that’s really exciting.

FTC: What was your favorite picture book as a child?KH: Do VHS tapes of Sondheim musicals count? If not, I suppose I read Where’s Waldo a lot in the company of others because I was a really competitive 5-year old.

FTC: How many FTC shows have you worked on?KH: I was the dramaturg for Cowboy Mouth and for The Children’s Hour, I was in Zanna, Don’t!, and I props designed The Last Five Years, so I suppose this is my fifth FTC show! Assuming I did math right…

FTC: If you could have one superpower what would it be and why?KH: The ability to be wherever I want to be when I want to be there! Is that teleporting? Basically, I want something to allow me to instantly go from my room in a highrise to the lobby level without waiting for the elevator or taking the stairs.

FTC: Why Cabaret?KH: Oh, lord. How do I answer this? Because life is a cabaret! We go to the cabaret to forget out troubles and receive ignorant entertainment; we fall asleep, and when we fall asleep, that’s when we allow it to become the end of the world. What could I possibly mean by all that? Come to the cabaret (and find out)!

Come see Kate and the rest of Front Row put on “Cabaret” this February 20th, 21st, and 22nd!